Hosni Mubarak Not Dying, Had Breakfast on the Beach

Military Council said to be shocked by scale of corruption in Mubarak regime.

ByABC News
February 16, 2011, 3:27 PM

CAIRO, Feb. 16, 2011 — -- Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was well enough to have breakfast on the beach today and is doing well, a sharp contradiction to reports that the sidelined strongman had slipped into a coma and was dying, a well placed source told ABC News.

The source also said that the ruling Military Council was shocked by the level and scale of corruption by the Mubarak regime. Shortly after taking charge, the military had asked that the finances of several top government officials be frozen pending investigations.

Mubarak is in seclusion at his Sharm el-Sheikh resort home along with his two sons Gamal and Alaa. The wives and children of his sons, however, have left the country, the source said.

In an indication that Mubarak, 82, has health issues the source said that his personal physician was also with Mubarak in Sharm El Sheikh.

But the man who was ousted from the presidential palace after ruling Egypt for 30 years was strong enough today to have his breakfast on the beach, the source said.

Dubai based Television Channel Al Arabiya has also reported that Mubarak is in ''good health'' today quoting a source who had reportedly spoken to him.

Concerns about Mubarak's health arose last week amid rumors that he had slipped into a coma shortly after being forced from office and leaving Cairo. Those concerns were heightened when Egyptian Ambassador to the United States Sameh Shoukry had told NBC hat Mubarak was "possibly in somewhat of bad health," but did not provide details.

Saudi based newspaper Al Sharq Al Awsat printed a story on Tuesday claiming that Mubarak's health was deteriorating dramatically and that he was refusing to take his medication or travel to Germany for treatment. The paper claimed he was suffering from depression following the revolution that brought an end to his political career on Feb. 11.

The last time Mubarak traveled to Germany was last March when he spent three weeks recovering at the Heidelberg University Hospital in Germany after undergoing surgery to remove his gallbladder. His doctor said that the president had made a full recovery.

More details also emerged on how Mubarak came to leave office.

After Mubarak went on national television at the height of the protests and said he would not leave office, Gen. Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, defense minister and now the man in charge of Egypt, was authorized by Military Council to visit Mubarak in his palace, a source detailed for ABC News.

As part of a deal for Mubarak to step down, he asked for and received guarantees from the military that he would be protected and not prosecuted, the source said.

Mubarak's newly appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman, who is a former intelligence chief, read out the statement announcing Mubarak's resignation. He too has left the political sphere and is no longer vice president, the source told ABC News.